ESI senior analyst Verena Knaus was invited to speak at a conference in Berlin on A Soul for Europe. In her statement she focused on the stories of change in the Balkans by highlighting the enormous transformation these countries have gone through in the past decade.

Verena also presented images and clips from the documentary series Return to Europe co-produced by ESI. This ten-part documentary series is one of the most ambitious TV projects on South Eastern Europe produced in recent years. It gives people who have contributed to the region's progress since the mid-1990s the opportunity to comment on their present situation: artists, lawyers, journalists, activists, mayors and football players tell their version of the story.